A MATERNITY unit moved a step nearer to closure yesterday after a long battle to keep it open.

Langbaurgh Primary Care Trust decided at its board meeting that the number of births at Guisborough Maternity Unit did not justify its existence.

They conducted three months of informal talks with the public before coming to their decision.

Staff at the unit deliver 120 babies a year and is sometimes empty. Trust chief executive Jon Chadwick said it needed 300 and 500 babies delivered there to make it viable.

He said he sympathised enormously with those opposed to closure, and said: "It is very sad. People have massive feelings and emotions towards the unit. That is something the board have wrestled with, but it is currently losing £100,000 to £200,000 a year. If we kept it open, we would have to make up that money from somewhere."

Three months of formal consultations will now take place, followed by a review by Redcar and Cleveland Borough Borough Council. A report will be presented to the trust early next year before a final decision.

However, Mr Chadwick believes the unit may still stay open for certain maternity services such as pre and ante-natal care. If the unit is closed, staff will move to the James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough.